The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-11-03
Behind the Register.

would you think of giving an enter
tainment without having someone to
receive your guests properlyP"
"Well, hardly
Would you think of running
hotel without having clerks who knew
all the boys and who were considerate
with the ladies who came to stop at
your houseP"
mot much"
After all, said one Of the -.
etors of an established Ne ProprI-
oelry, VINO ~ is always willing to see
~ = .nS Sone =. ais uues, "the clerks, to
81 e".n' :, o lent than would imagine,
lie hotels what they are 1t
les combination of many qualities
| to make an ideal hotel clerk. There
are so many things required of him
and SO many other things that are not
required that it becomes no easy mat
ter to- select man to answer the pur-
pose perfectly and with absolute salts
faction. A man who fills a position
acceptably even, is worth great deal
to the house by which he is employed" :"
A hotel clerk is called upon hundreds,
yea thousand of times a day to do
this, that, or the other favor for Tom,
Dick, or Harry. From early morning
until the shades of night set in he is
the target at which such lances are
cOuched as, "Give me my key" ''What
time does the 10:40 train leave?"
(Which car goes first the one leaving
at or that leaving at 81" "Where
can get shaved?" please send a
pitcher of ice-water to my room" ''Is
Col. Mulberry Sellers here?" 'Is
Capt. Kid IMP" '.What is that old fell
lows name over thereP" 'Is dinner
readyP" Can be called at 8 o'clock?"
(Which car do you take for Pinchp"
cDo | get breakfast at Sardis or
package with you" (Which is the
best hotel to stop at in Nashville?"
whats the news, old boy?" Hot
weather, amt it?" ''What does a
thousand-mile ticket cost at 8 cents
per mile?" ''Do l get my my bag
gage checked here or at the trains ?"
did you say at the train?" sWhere
did you spend the summer?" What
are your ideas on political economy?"
'Deuced beastly uncomfortable | tell
you" ''Is the Concord school of
pllloSopLN III StSSlOus SdV, i be-
lieve there are no matches in my ROOM"
Haven't you got anything to read,
hey?" etc: 1t requires remarkable
presence of mind for answering these
suggestions. The writer has see.
hotel clerk, one of the tallest and
handsomest in town, handling the
register with one hand, keeping ac-
counts with the other and talking to
as many as a dozen inquisitive guests
at once, while he still preserved in
far greater degree than one would
have right to suppose, a calmness of
demeanor, a consciousness of duty,
and dignity of attitude that was
simply heroic,
The hotel clerk is used to sizipf, nm
the boys, and when one comes in in Z
perturbed state of mind he is dealt
with so ''gently and. so levinoIyn that
1t takes no time 20 forget what if was
that irritated him.
tnere Is charming grace in the cool
uiliSetce met with which the man be-
nina the register moves when there is
crowd at his desk. There is a subtitle
sweetness in the sound of his voice as
ne calls out l,092 to the bell-bov, and
he is never inflicted with innocuous
desuetude. The hotel clerk has been
described as being but little better
than plumber, because he wears dia-
monds and has probably $1,000, 900 to
his credit in the bank This is an in
justice to the hotel clerk, and it es-
pecially reflects upon those of. Mem
phis, because none of them here are
worth over $500, 900